Name: Joey Kindig
Year: Junior
Major: Music education
Hometown: Summerville, SC
What made you want to major in music education?
I had this moment my senior year of high school and I went to a concert – it was Charleston Symphony Orchestra, nothing too big – I hadn’t really decided what I wanted to do yet, and I was like “okay, I’m really enjoying this.” One of my favorite things about music is I love performing, and I feel like there’s two mindsets with that: you can keep doing what you’re doing and perform as much as possible, or you can use that passion to convince others to want to as well. I guess the biggest thing is I want more people to experience performing. Band has a place for everyone, and I want to be able to impact a kid’s life.
What are you involved in around campus?
I’m Greek, a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. I’m on the Interfraternity Council (IFC) exec board, I’m on the worship team for Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), and I tutor at the Academic Success Center (ASC) here on campus. I also work at the rock wall in the West Center, I have since the beginning of the fall 2016 semester.
Joey, third from the left, with some of his ΦΜΑ brothers and members of ΣΑΙ.
How did you start tutoring at the ASC?
I hadn’t really thought about it until I got the email from them asking for MATH 150 tutors, and I knew it was a subject a lot of people struggle in;  I just thought, “hey, I would love to do this.” Funny story, I didn’t get accepted the first year I applied to be a tutor. Now I’m a Level Three tutor [author’s note: this is the highest level that can be reached] and I’ve given lessons to the Level One and Two classes before. I was volunteer coordinator on the Tutor Council and I’ve done a lot of tabling for them…I just tutor a lot, so it’s kind of funny to see the involvement I have with the ASC and know that I didn’t get in the first time. It’s just ironic.
What do you hope to accomplish for the Interfraternity Council now that you’re the new VP of recruitment?
Okay, so one of the biggest problems we have within IFC is that there’s not really individuality…. it’s hard to see a difference between all the groups. And because of how unique my organization is, I want to be able to start pushing a movement for showcasing ideals a lot more rather than just joining an organization because the event the potential new members went to was fun. Basically, I want recruitment to be more values-based because I want people to be recruited for life and not just for four years.
Over spring break, you and some of your brothers traveled around the state singing to nursing home residents and hospital patients. You also spearheaded planning the trip, so what was that experience like for you?
That was great! It was a really cool experience, there’s more words I could use to describe it but every time I talk about it “cool” is all I can think of. It’s not really something I have the words to describe, it’s just something you have to experience for yourself. I think my general favorite thing about the trip was that every stop was different. Some residents were more into it with others, sometimes there’s a lot more of a happy occasion, and sometimes you would talk to people afterwards and there would be a lot of sympathy for what people are going through. Those people don’t always have long to live and probably never leave that home or hospital, or they might not get visits from family a lot. One of the important things is that we were showing up for their sake, and they don’t even need the music at that point. The music just makes it better.
Joey with one of the nursing home patients the brothers sang to over spring break.
What’s been the highlight of your college experience so far?
Getting to perform at Carnegie Hall with the Winthrop University Wind Symphony. It’s really cool that we got the opportunity to play on the stage of the greats, like people in the music world that I’ve looked up to have conducted or played on that stage. We saw the other youth ensembles and they all were just having a blast on there, it was really cool to see them have that much fun while they were performing. On top of that, it was just cool to be in New York. Got to see some really cool things.
Where’s your favorite place to visit?
Seattle, Washington. It’s where my family is and I really love downtown Seattle. The weather always feels nice – even though it rains all the time. It can be like South Carolina sometimes, like how it rains but it’s still really warm out.
Name the first three songs you think of.
“500 Miles” by The Proclaimers, “La Vie Boheme” from Rent, and “Promise of Living” by Aaron Copeland.
What’s something about you that people might not necessarily guess?
Oh, God…I’m an open book, so that’s a hard question. I guess that I don’t actually like getting volunteered for everything, but I will elaborate – because of my outgoing personality and extreme extroversion, I like volunteering for a lot of things, but I get volunteered by other people to do stuff I’m unaware of. Can’t say I’m a fan of that.
Joey, fourth from the left, with other WU Wind Symphony members and composer Steven Bryant, center.
Photos courtesy of Joey Kindig and Sam Walton.